‘A living and discreet Church’: Despite persecution, Catholic faith endures in Saudi Arabia

The port city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. / Credit: Tahir mq, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons ACI Prensa Staff, Jul 16, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA). In Saudi Arabia, a theocratic monarchy where Islam is the official and only permitted religion, religious freedom does not exist. However, according to data maintained by the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia, a considerable number of Catholics live in its vast territory — which covers more than 772,200 square miles, slightly larger than…